


Col tuo schifo di educazione

by shessocold



Series: The Circus [6]
Category: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - All Media Types, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - John Le Carré
Genre: Bisexual Male Character, Emotional Manipulation, Friendship, Intimacy, Jealousy, Late Night Conversations, Love, M/M, Tenderness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:42:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29134260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shessocold/pseuds/shessocold
Summary: Bill is set in his ways.
Relationships: Bill Haydon/Jim Prideaux
Series: The Circus [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1526774
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Col tuo schifo di educazione

Bill turns up a few minutes after midnight, soaking wet. Always so bloody secretive, thinks Jim, picturing — not without some exasperation — Bill’s wholly unnecessary trek from whatever rainy street corner he had the cab drop him on.

“I trust you’re not all out of fatted calves,” jokes Bill, his expression perfectly deadpan. There’s a faint smear of pink lipstick on his shirt collar, and Jim feels sick to his stomach. 

“Come on in,” he says. His tone must be more revealing of his private weariness than he’d wished, because Bill leans in and plants a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth. 

“I missed you,” he reveals, his hand on Jim’s shoulder, with the air of bestowing an enormous honour on him. For a split second, Jim sincerely hates him. 

“I’m sure you did,” he mutters, moving aside to admit Bill into the house. “Are you hungry?” 

Bill makes a face. 

“I think a bath, first.” 

Forty minutes later, there they are: Bill - faintly pink from the hot water and the scrubbing, foreskin still rolled back - letting himself dry in front of the sitting room fire, and Jim watching him morosely from the sofa. 

“You know, I _promise_ my towels are clean. There’s no need for this.” 

“I just prefer to do it this way,” replies Bill, airily. It’s all down, Jim recalls, to an ancient governess (Swiss?) with very specific opinions on the topic of personal hygiene. It’s also one of the extremely few habits of Bill’s that he’s never managed to find endearing, not even in the first intoxicating stages of infatuation. “Besides, I’ve never known you to complain about naked blokes in your immediate proximity. Should I worry?” 

“Oh, do fuck off,” replies Jim, amused in spite of himself by Bill’s mock earnestness. Bill grins. 

“That’s more like it,” he says, in a softer voice. “That’s the Jim I know and love.” 

_Love_. Not that Jim believes him, but it’s a valiant enough effort at reconciliation on Bill’s part. The ball, Jim feels, is now in his court. He gets to his feet. 

“You are the most shameless creature I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet,” he says, pulling Bill into an embrace. “And _by far_ the most exasperating. I hope you know that.” 

“Believe me, I do,” says Bill, his warm mouth on Jim’s neck, his arms around Jim’s waist. 

“Are you like this with the others, too?” asks Jim, unable to restrain himself. “With the women?” 

Bill lifts his face from Jim’s neck. 

“What do you mean ‘like this’?” he asks. “Damp? Because that’s your fault for rushing me.” 

Jim lets out a snort of laughter. 

“I want to know if you lie to them too,” he clarifies. “Or if you bother keeping up the pretences with me only, out of professional courtesy.” 

Bill takes a step back. 

“I’ve never told you any lies, Jim,” he says, very plainly, running a hand through his wet hair. His gaze, Jim thinks, feels extraordinarily sharp in the dancing firelight. “And I’m decently sure you’re the only one that statement applies to. Make of that what you will.” 

“I’m sorry,” says Jim, after a while. Bill shrugs and gives him a quick grin. 

“Nothing to be sorry about. So, about that supper?”

**Author's Note:**

> Bill is horrid.


End file.
